Our Europe trip may have come to an end, but our life of luxury was just starting. After a not so luxurious flight from Copenhagen to British Airways, we made it. We went to London Heathrow’s Terminal 3 and starting living the lounge life. The pampering started with breakfast and the best shower of my life at the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge. Afterwards we went right next door to the Qantas London Lounge.
Location/Hours/Access
While our flight landed at terminal five, the Qantas London Lounge is in Terminal 3 (near gate 11). Heathrow Terminal 5 is a little weird. As soon as you clear security and enter into the departure area, you are flagged ready to fly and cannot leave the terminal. So upon landing, we immediately went to Terminal 3. The lounge itself is open daily from 7:55 AM to 8:30 PM. In order to access this lounge, you need to be either flying in Business or First Class on a One World Airline or be a One World Sapphire or Emerald frequent flier. Due to the Iberia 90,000 Avios promo, we could access because were flying first class!
Qantas London Lounge
I don’t know if it was the excitement of the upcoming first class flight, but these One World member lounges were so classy. Way nicer than the Priority Pass Lounges I frequent (OH GOD! AM I BECOMING A SNOB!!!!!). The Qantas London Lounge is really all about style. The second I walked into the Qantas lounge the design really caught my eye. The contrast between the wood floors and the blog white marble bar that is stunning combination. Qantas continued with this bold design choice all through their London lounge adding the occasional gold accent for a nice touch of bling.
Not only is this lounge beautiful, it is massive. It is two floors of food, drinks, and comfortable seats. Another great option to spend time before a flight.
Qantas London Lounge Food and Drink
Dining Options
Like the Cathay Lounge we just visited, the Qantas lounge has a limited a la carte dining option. It was well after 10 Am when we visited, and they were serving their brunch menu.
While I was ready to sit down and eat a second (maybe third?) breakfast like a good little Hobbit. Stephanie decided to talk me out of it, and honestly it was a good thing. There was not really catching my eye, I probably would have went with an eggs Benedict, but that is not too exciting of a choice.
But I do what I have to do for my readers. Even if it means sacrificing my stunning figure and sampling some food of the buffet. If you don’t have time for a sit down meal, on the second floor of the Qantas London Lounge they offer a buffet style meal.
Given it was still breakfast time you could find most of your breakfast favorites there. Including bacon, eggs (scrambled and soft boiled), yogurts, and assorted cold cuts, pastries, and juices. With plenty of options there is no chance of going hungry. The food on the buffet, however, was not very good. The eggs were dry and the bacon was just… I don’t know wrong (too thin, under cooked, super greasy). Maybe it had just been sitting way too long, the lounge was not very crowded.
So long as you have the time I would check out their a la carte options, as that is made fresh it is likely to be significantly better.
Drinks
The Qantas London Lounge really shines when it comes to its bars. Visually both bars are stunning with their white marble with gold accents. While they have a good selection of wines and other liquor, they are most famous for their Gin Bar.
Qantas stocks their gin bar with anywhere from 10-15 different types of gin depending on the day or season. With focuses on both gins local to London as well as Gins that are local from their home base, Australia. These aren’t cheap gins either. The gins we had retail between $75-$100 a bottle.
If you are like me and are a novice gin drinker this can be overwhelming. But worry not! Qantas has you covered their too. Their Gin bartenders are trained and well educated on everything gin. After a few simple questions about our personal preferences he suggested Australian Green ant Gin for me and Four Pillars Gin for Stephanie. We both loved the bartender’s choices for us. Turns out maybe I am a gin guys or I just love limited edition things.
Qantas London Lounge Seating
As i mentioned above, this lounge is massive. The a la carte dining area and gin bar takes up the entire first floor and is about 3-4x the size of the Cathay a la carte dining area. The upstairs consists of the round marble bar with even more drink options and the buffet. If you are looking for a comfortable seat, the upstairs is where its at. This upstairs area is chock full of extremely comfortable and well maintained couches and plush lounge chairs, and some standard seating. We visited pretty early on in the day and the lounge was empty. However, it seemed sufficiently large where seating should not be an issue.
The one flaw saw with the Qantas Lounge was there seemed to be a lack of power outlets. Most of the outlets were along the walls and if you were at one of the non-wall seats, you may have issues finding power.
Other Amenities
The Qantas London Lounge also has shower rooms available. As I literally had just stepped out of the shower next door at the Cathay Lounge, I didn’t think to check out their showers. But from what I seen they look pretty nice but not up to the quality of those I have seen in other lounges. However, they are MUCH better than those lounges you will find at British Airways’ Terminal 5 Lounges (more on that in my next post).
Overall
With a bold and beautiful design the Qantas London Lounge is absolutely stunning. While their buffet was a bit lackluster, they more than made up for it with their unparalleled gin bar.